Inbreeding
by IzzeeKatt
Summary: What will the ministry do when inbreeding among purebloods becomes a problem?  This is my debut into the FanFiction world so we'll see how it goes. Please don't be unnecessarily cruel in your reviews, I'm new! :p
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer:

**Katt:** Izzee owns nothing.

**Izzee:** Katt owns nothing.

**Izzeekatt:** Zane owns nothing cuz Iggy used all of it for bombs.

**Zane:** What?

**Izzee:** You didn't know that?

**Katt:** What did you think happened to it? That gnomes came through the floor and robbed you in your sleep?

**Zane:** How did I not notice that? [Turns to leave]

**Izzee:** Where are you going?

**Zane:** [no answer]

**Izzee:** Zane?

**Katt:** Wonder when he's gonna figure out that we lied about Iggy and that we put it all in the attic.

**Izzee:** [giggles] Yeah.

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

3rd person POV

After he read the most recent health reports that he found on his desk, Mr. Nowak of the Department of Population Maintenance of the Ministry made his decision. He quickly owled Albus Dumbledore with his instructions that would begin the whole affair. Now all he had to do was wait for a reply.

Hogwarts the same day

Professor Dumbledore heard the familiar sound of an owl tapping on glass and went over to the window to let it in. He gave the owl a treat after retrieving the message tied to its leg. The professor opened the piece of paper and read:

_Professor Dumbledore,_

_The Ministry will be coming to Hogwarts in two days. Please have all unmarried sixth and seventh years in the Room of Requirement after dinner. Make sure there is some kind of beverage available to them and that they drink some. We will explain more at the meeting._

_Sincerely,_

_Thomas Nowak_

_Head of the Department of Population Maintenance_

Dumbledore quickly grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill. He responded saying that they will be ready for the Ministry's arrival and tied it to the leg of the owl that was waiting.

**Hogwarts-two days later at dinner**

All the tables were talking loudly but when Dumbledore stood, they quieted down. When the dining hall was silent, he began speaking.

"After you are finished eating, all sixth and seventh years must go to the Room of Requirement for a mandatory meeting. If you try to skip, where ever you are you will be magically dragged to the meeting. Those who are married are not to be there. Please enjoy the rest of your dinner."

As soon as he stopped addressing the students, the room erupted into excited and confused chatter as the tables tried to puzzle out the reason for the meeting that required mandatory attendance.

HermionePOV

After the Headmaster made his vague announcement, Harry, Ron, and I turned our attention back to each other. Both of them wore a slightly thoughtful expression on their faces.

"I wonder what this meeting is about. It sounded like it's really important considering any sixth or seventh year student will be dragged to the meeting if the decide to not go," Hermione said, breaking them from their thoughts.

"Dumbledore didn't say much and what he did say has me worried slightly," Harry responded.

"Why is that?" Ron asked.

"Dumbledore said this meeting is only for the students who are not married," Harry explained.

"I hope this isn't some kind of marriage law. It is, after all, after the war and there were many casualties sustained on both sides. The population must have become very low and the Ministry may have felt the need to force us to get married and have children to bring the population up," Hermione said, worry coloring her tone.

"Bloody hell, I hope that's not what this meeting is about," Ron said with a look of horror on his face.

Conversation ceased for a short while between the three friends as they once more got lost in their thoughts and internal speculations.

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><p>After dinner, the Golden Trio made their way to the Room of Requirement. They wanted to leave dinner a little early to garner some information before everyone else showed up, but they realized soon, after Harry voiced the idea, that there was no way of knowing what the room was supposed to be on the inside and resigned themselves to waiting for whoever is supposed to let them in.<p>

Sixth and seventh years soon began to trickle into the hallway in small collective masses around the entrance to the room. Soon, everyone was present and waiting. An unknown auror arrived not long after and moved to the front of the mass of students to address them. Unbeknown to the students, when the announcement was made, a compulsion charm was placed on them.

"There are four tables set up in the room. Please relax and have some punch. Feel free to mingle. We will explain why we're here after a little while," he said calmly.

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><p><strong>Katt: <strong>So that's the first chapter; I know it's short so please don't tell me that. It might be a little while before I update again because I'm out visiting my dad and have not had access to wifi, cell phone service, electricity, or the indoors much as I have been camping at Yellowstone National Park. I am now in Green River, Utah and am going to see Goblin Valley State Park tomorrow. I will try to update in a reasonable amount of time, but no promises.


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry it took so long for me to update; school is ruling my life right now. I'm sure a lot of you can feel my pain.

Extended Disclaimer: (see chapter 1)

Summary of Extended Disclaimer: None of us (Katt, Izzee, and Zane) own anything.

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

The mass of students moved into the room behind the auror. The Room of Requirement turned into a rectangular shaped ballroom just large enough to fit the group.

Two of the four tables were along the far wall, which was the longest, while the other two tables were each on the adjacent walls. Each table held a bowl of punch, a ladle, and cups, as well as had an auror manning each bowl. If the cups were counted, it would be discovered that there were exactly enough cups for the amount of students that would be attending this meeting.

Clusters of students began to follow the auror's orders and started to head towards the bowls.

(=^_^=)

Hermione hesitantly followed Harry and Ron to the table where Kingsley Shacklebolt was standing; the only auror in the room that they recognized.

"Harry, good to see you, and you too Hermione and Ron," Kingsley greeted as they stopped in front of him.

"Hello Kingsley," they responded with smiles.

The auror noticed them eying the punch suspiciously. "Would you like some punch? I made it myself; I think it's tasty," he said, lying easily.

Since they trusted him in the war, the Golden Trio accepted the proffered cups but still didn't drink any.

"What is this meeting about, Kingsley? Dumbledore didn't explain during dinner which makes me a bit wary," Hermione said.

"Don't worry about it. It's nothing bad, but I can't tell you anything now. You'll have to wait for the announcement like the rest of the students," Kingsley responded evasively; he didn't like having to lie and betray their trust.

"But what is so important that only the sixth and seventh years can hear, and not the rest of the students?" Harry asked, not ready to drop the subject.

"I'm sorry, Harry, but I really can't tell you," Kingsley answered apologetically.

Ron, who had been silent up until now, said, "Guys, he's obviously not going to budge. We might as well just do what the auror said and hang out until they're ready to spill the beans." He wanted to know just as much as his friends, but in one of his rare moments of perceptiveness, he could tell that questioning Kinglsey right then was getting them nowhere.

He downed the contents of his cup in one gulp and immediately looked surprised. "Hey, this _is_ good. Kinglsey, can I have some more?"

After having his cup refilled, he sauntered off to go chat with Seamus. Seeing that their redheaded friend drank his punch without seeming to be affected any, Harry and Hermione began to sip at their own as they went to find their other friends to talk to. They felt slightly bad for using him as an unofficial guinea pig but it eased their worries over the drink.

Harry and Hermione found Luna and Neville on the outskirts of the group. They greeted each other before Harry and their two friends fell into easy conversation while Hermione stayed quiet. She was deep in thought, trying to puzzle out the whole situation.

There is the possibility that the Ministry wants to talk to the older students about their life after Hogwarts. If this is the case than why are the aurors and Professor Dumbledore being so secretive about it? Talking about universities and jobs did not warrant a need to have a meeting that the students cannot be informed about its topic beforehand. She crossed this off her list as well.

Another possible reason could be that the Ministry has modified some rules at Hogwarts, but again, why would they only want to tell the sixth and seventh years and not the whole school? And if this is the correct reason, why did the Ministry have to tell the students and not let Professor Dumbledore be the informant? This reason was crossed off as well.

Another reason Hermione thought of for the meeting could be that the Ministry is going to take over Hogwarts. This idea seemed very farfetched to Hermione, so she did not spend much time thinking about it, and eliminated it quickly.

What if there is some kind of law that was passed by the Ministry that greatly affects the older students of Hogwarts and now they are here to impose it on the sixth and seventh years? If this is the case than what is this new law? She decided that this has some merit to it so she left it on the list she has been mentally writing in her head.

What if the reason is that the Ministry needs recruits because the remaining Death Eaters in hiding have banded together and are going to attack Hogwarts? This was a scary thought for Hermione. They had just defeated Voldemort not too long ago and had suffered many casualties along the way and in the final battle. Everyone's lives are only beginning to become somewhat normal again; an attack from the remaining Death Eaters would not be a good thing. Recruiting for this new battle would not go over well either. Hermione wondered how many Death Eaters were still around anyway; surely there cannot be so many that it requires the Ministry to have to recruit fighters in order to defeat these Death Eaters? As much as she wanted to eliminate this from her list, she could not. She decided to blame it on her lingering paranoia left over from the war.

From this reason it was easy for Hermione to jump to the possibility that the meeting was called because the Ministry needed recruits because Voldemort is not actually dead and there is going to be another battle. This was an even worse thought than the previous one, and was one she could not eliminate either for the same reason as for the Death Eater attack possibility. Out of her last two assumptions, Hermione prayed to Merlin that neither were correct.

With so little information to work with, her mind was like an organized tornado heading towards worst-possible-scenario-ville ready to destroy some innocent, poor, unassuming houses. Hermione was becoming impatient. She just wants the aurors to get down to business and soothe her trepidation, as well as her curiosity.

Hermione realized that she had finished her punch and decided to go back to the punch bowl Kinglsey was manning to get some more because she had to admit that it was quite good. She decided that she would try to get some information out of Kinsley, but she knew it was a long shot so she did not expect to get much, if any.

Hermione, more at ease now that she had a plan-even though it was not much, turned around to head back to Kingsley, but did not get very far because she had the unfortunate luck of turning right into Draco Malfoy.**  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Katt:<strong> I am dedicating this fanfic to **Fallon Monroe**. She has been there for me from the start of this fanfic and has been awesomely patient with me for being such an indecisive slacker. She is my favorite brain to bounce ideas off of. She is the best!

I'm gonna be really busy with school because all of my classes are either honors or AP, so it'll probably take me a few weeks to update. I'm going to try to catch up on my writing over Christmas Break.

If anyone is wondering why Izzee isn't helping any, it's because she says that it's my story, not ours. Personally I think she's just mad at me for locking her in the basement and now she's getting back at me.


	3. Chapter 3

I am so absolutely sorry that it took me so long again to get another chapter out. I am sorry to say that this is probably going to keep happening. I hope y'all will continue to bear with me; it's appreciated :)

Extended Disclaimer: (see Chapter 1)

Summary of Disclaimer: My siblings and I are very poor, but that's okay; we have each other to annoy.

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><p><strong>Last Chapter<strong>

_Hermione realized that she had finished her punch and decided to go back to the punch bowl Kinglsey was manning to get some more because she had to admit that it was quite good. She decided that she would try to get some information out of Kinsley, but she knew it was a long shot so she did not expect to get much, if any._

_Hermione, more at ease now that she had a plan-even though it was not much, turned around to head back to Kingsley, but did not get very far because she had the unfortunate luck of turning right into Draco Malfoy._

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

HermionePOV

The unexpected collision knocked Hermione slightly off balance and she started to fall backwards. Malfoy did not try to help her as she wobbled on her feet for another moment; he just looked down on her with a sneer set on his face which, Hermione observed distractedly, he seemed to save to bring out only in her presence; everyone else received a different sneer. Right when she regained her balance, Neville bumped into her from behind hard enough to send her forward into Malfoy again. If she thought that sneer of his was going to come off any time soon, the second collision efficiently knocked that thought out of her head as a glare had emerged to accompany it.

When she fell forward the second time because of Neville, her hand brushed against his forearm. Immediately, the pair felt a zinging shock, originating at their points of contact-Hermione's fingers and Malfoy's forearm- shoot through them. The shock was followed by a faint glow of magic, that only they could see, hover and surround them. They could feel the odd magic pulsating around them, and then after a second of hovering, the glow started shrinking inwards at a slow pace, closing in on the confused pair. It drew out a part of their minds, and as the glow continued to shrink, their minds grew closer to each other. Their minds touched as the glowing magic disappeared. The contact lasted only a second before severing itself and throwing their minds back into their own heads. Hermione and Malfoy were stunned silent and motionless. The strange magic was gone but they still felt an echo of the pulsing magic for a few moments longer before the echoes disappeared as well. The magic arrived abruptly but seemed almost reluctant to leave completely.

Malfoy shook off the dazed feeling and looked at Hermione. Hermione could tell that he was still bewildered. Malfoy realized that his facade must not have been as intact as he believed and Hermione was seeing his true emotions. To cover up his blunder, he quickly sneered at her, "Watch where you're going, Granger. I don't need you mudblood germs all over me."

He walked off quickly before she had the chance to form an insult to fire back at him. She decided not to focus on Malfoy, but instead on what just happened. She immediately began to feel tendrils of anxiety lick at her more paranoid side. Where did that magic come from? What does it mean? What did that magic do? Who caused the magic? Why was the magic cast? Was it cast with malicious intent? She immediately stopped the questions that were circulating in her head a mile a minute. There was probably a reasonable explanation for the occurrence. It wouldn't do for her to panic when there was hardly anything to go on except her anxious questions.

She stayed where she was standing a moment longer to further calm herself down. She began to head towards Kinglsey's table again with many more questions than she had when she had originally set out. As she passed students on her route to Kingsley, she noticed first that they were being very touchy. As she continued, she observed they were being particularly touchy towards their opposite sex, and almost blatant about it. She also observed further that many students had developed two left feet and were tripping into people, but not in a way that implied drunkenness. A few of these students would immediately look confused or bewildered.

When she reached Kingsley's table, she immediately became disappointed due to the fact that she couldn't interrogate him because one of the aurors who were supervising called the room together and began to speak.**  
><strong>

After one last look at Kingsley, Hermione turned her attention to the auror and his information. "I know that many of you are confused as to why the Ministry would arrive at Hogwarts unannounced to you, only to throw you a party. I'm here to explain why you are gathered here." He paused to make sure he had everyone's attention; if he didn't before, he did now.

"The Ministry believes that the lack of a large number of children being born into pureblooded families is the result of the ideals that pureblood families follow. Most pureblood families pride themselves on only marrying other purebloods to maintain 'blood purity' and marrying anyone else has been practically taboo. This has gone on for centuries without any real problem physically, but the backlash from these old ways and practices are catching up. The Ministry believes that because these families have only had children with other pureblood families, their DNA has become too similar. This similarity in genes is causing not only the reduction of births in purebloods, but also an increase in squibs as well. The Ministry sees this as a dire problem, both to the children who would be affected by this and to the population of Magical London, and has devised a way to fix this situation before it gets worse.

"This is where you all come in. You are part of our plan to keep this from happening. The punch that we have supplied to you to drink is no ordinary punch; it's special. It started out as regular punch, but we added a potion. The potion will create a bond between yourself and another individual of the opposite sex and different blood status. The potion will only pay attention to these two requirements and will not take your personal feelings into account. It will also make it easier to get along with your bond mate by altering both of your mindsets to make it easier on both of you to accept the other's love and kindness. The potion is not strong enough to alter your personalities and will last until you have been bonded with someone. The bond will last until death.

"Along with the potion the Ministry has placed some requirements and guidelines that you all will have to follow. Each pair has to meet within one week to get to know each other, though how you plan this meeting is up to you. After this first meeting you will have to meet your bond mate at least twice a week. The Ministry will not put deadlines for marriage and children, unless you appear to be abusing this allowance, because the Ministry wants you to genuinely and fully love your bond mate before you get married and have children. The Ministry prefers that each pair have at least two children. All arranged marriage contracts between purebloods are null and void.

"The Ministry is also passing new laws that pertain to domestic abuse and will will be heavily enforced. These laws prohibit touching your spouse with the intent to do harm, using magic on your spouse with the intent to cause harm, and hurting family members with the intent to indirectly harm your spouse. They also prohibit rape and other nonconsentual intimate acts, as well as infidelity. These laws apply to both males and females, and will not go easy on the offender even if they are a woman. All of these things were set in place to try to prevent someone from turning into another Voldemort. The Ministry doesn't want another war.

"While the Ministry doesn't want you to have children until you love your bond mate, they are not requiring celibacy before love exists between bond mates. Even though they wish for you to wait until you are ready to have children, they know that may not be possible for some of you due to hormones running rampant. They expected this to apply to some of you, so after your first meeting, they want all the females to go visit Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing to take a contraceptive potion that will keep the females who took the potion from being able to conceive until they sleep with the ones they truly love. The contraceptive potion is a requirement. As for how to recognize when you get bonded, it should be fairly obvious to you. Upon skin on skin contact you should feel a tingle of magic shoot through you, then more magic enclose on you, bringing the both of you closer together for a moment when the magic dissipates."

With that, the auror was done with his speech and the room at once erupted into an irate boom of voices, except for Hermione and Draco, although that fact is unknown to the both of them. Hermione was stunned silent. for the first time in her life she was unable to think. All she could do was stand there next to Kinglsey's table with her mouth hanging open and eyes wide, shouting _What?_ over and over in her head with a stutter. The loud, angry voices all around her in the room sounded dull and muffled, like background noise, as if she was in a separate room from the angry voices and was hearing it through the wall.

After a few minutes her brain had come back to her and was firing on all circuits again, mostly anyway. The first coherent thoughts she had were, _I am bonded to Draco Malfoy. Draco Malfoy is my fiance... I have to marry Malfoy. I have to sleep with Malfoy... I have to live with Malfoy! My name will be Malfoy!_ She immediately became horrified and just wanted to curl up in a corner and cry. Those thoughts kept circling in her head like a hawk circling in the sky above its prey, waiting to strike. She began to feel suffocated and turned to look for the nearest exit.

She was one of the first out of the door into the hallway, not really hearing the auror dismissing the students to their dorms. She kept running without a destination in mind, only with the need to get away from the room that contained people who had just regulated and decided on her personal life for her and held her _fiance_. All logic had fled her mind, leaving only her frenzied thoughts and emotions to guide her. She ran until all conscience thought left her and only raw emotions remained. At some point that she didn't notice she had slowed to walk. She was stuck in her mind while her body was on auto-pilot. She continued moving through Hogwarts, not seeing what she was passing or where she was going. If she bumped into anything, she didn't realize it or register any pain. Time held no meaning for her; she had no idea how much time was passing as she wandered the halls, first like the devil was biting at her heals, then later like a zombie.

Fatigue eventually became the main feeling in her body and it shook her out of the haze that she had been existing in. Hermione finally took in her surroundings and realized that she was about to pass by the front entrance to the school. She saw that there was no one in the hall around her and couldn't hear anything. She realized it was probably very late. With tiredness and weariness settling in her body, she turned and began walking again, this time with the destination of her bed. Some how she still had some luck and was able to not run into Filch. She reached the portrait to the Heads' dorms and gave the password. The portrait swung open and she entered. She had the presence of mind to be as quiet as she could to try and not wake Harry, once she noticed that he had not waited up for her, as she shuffled to her room with sleepy steps. Once in her room, she laid down on her bed, kicked off her shoes, and promptly fell asleep in her clothes.

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><p>Izzee: I think it would be awesome of you readers to take five minutes and send us a <strong>review<strong>. If there are any particular **Malfoy/Hermione insults** that you like and might want to see appear in future chapters, include those insults in your review! The more creative they are, the more likely you will see them in the story.

**Katt:** It would be appreciated!

**Zane:** Just do it so they quit complaining about it to me all the time; I'm _this close_ to bashing my head against the wall so I can make myself pass out just so I don't have to listen to them anymore. I'm also about to go move my stuff to the roof and live up there from now on!

**Katt:** Don't do that! It's gonna rain tonight; you'll get all wet.

**Izzee:** And so will your stuff. Why don't you go live in the basement?

**Zane:** I already tried that. It didn't work; I can still hear you.

[Zane leaves to go hide in the rain on the roof.]

**Katt:** I say he'll only last an hour, two tops.

**Izzee:** Five bucks says only thirty minutes.

**Katt:** I'll take that bet.


End file.
